Video banking is when customers talk to their bank from home, using their laptop, tablet or smartphone. It uses live video technology to connect a customer with a financial advisor or banker. 

The video connection allows banks to offer clients personal financial advice - via a digital channel. And customers can get in touch with a human advisor remotely, when it best suits them.
 

How does video banking work?

With Video Banking your bank establishes a live video connection between the customer and one of your financial advisors, or agents.

This is how video banking works:

1. Customers schedule an appointment for video advice on your website
   OR advisors plan the video meeting themselves and send the client an invite

2. Your customer receives an automatic email with a unique access link

3. When it's time for the video meeting to start, the customer clicks the access link

4. The video call starts, and establishes a live connection between the customer and the advisor

5. After the video call finishes, you can ask clients for instant feedback. You get to measure the quality of your video advice, and to track performance on other metrics.
   
   

On top of scheduled video advice, you can also offer clients a click-to-video button to instantly start a video call on your website, or escalate to a video call from a current chat or phone conversation.
 

A new definition of video banking

The term video banking used to imply banking via video in a narrow, more physical sense, i.e. at a physical bank branch. In the past, it stood for performing banking transactions through a tangible teller machine enabled with video, or via a physical bank branch enabled with technology for live video contact.

According to this traditional definition, the video banking technology then established a live video connection between the customer - at a physical teller or bank branch - and an agent. The agent was connected from a centralized contact center or another bank branch.

Then in 2014 Indian bank IndusInd was the first in the world to introduce a new video banking service. With its 24/7 ‘Video Branch’ service, IndusInd Bank allowed its customers to have a face-to-face video call with a bank staff member digitally, using their desktop, tablet or smartphone. This new digital way of video banking allowed customers to interact with a bank agent or financial advisor from anywhere.  Using any device connected to the internet, customers can start a video banking session from home, the office, or on the go.

Why video banking is growing fast

Video banking is growing faster and faster - even since before the COVID-19 pandemic. 

That’s because banks are under a lot of pressure to strive for efficiency: branches have been closing and workflows are being digitized. At the same time, customers started showing new behaviours. Customer interaction might be moving to online and away from physical branches, but clients are still looking for personal contact.

To take their Digital Transformation strategy safely through this pandemic, banks are looking for a digital banking solution to solve both of these challenges.
 

Luckily, digital branches do not have to equal impersonal customer interactions. Banks are looking for a way to incorporate the human touch into their digital transformation, especially in these times when entire branch staff are required to work remotely and consumers worldwide were asked to stay at home more than ever before.

Video banking is a solution for banks to interact with customers safely and digitally, while staying personal at the same time. There are many video banking use cases where remote advice brings value to banks, e.g. mortgage loan applications, wealth management or business banking.

Benefits of video banking

Video banking is an efficient way to offer customers personal financial advice through your digital channels - securely and remotely. This year remote video advice has become the ‘new normal’ in banking.

The default channel for interacting with customers has suddenly shifted from face-to-face in branch to 100% remote and digital. However, 80% of financial institutions were already offering video banking in 2018 or planning to offer it in the near future. That's because unlike face-to-face contact, video banking is safe, efficient and easy to use for both the customer and the advisor.


These are the benefits of video banking to you and your customers:

• Offer safe & personal financial advice from the comfort of your customers’ own home
  
  

• Save travel time for both your clients and advisors
  
  

• Boost customer satisfaction: clients of Bird Video receive NPS scores of up to +78 for video meetings 
  
  

• Build stronger customer relationships: video banking allows you to personally inform customers on the financial impact of current affairs, like the Brexit or the corona crisis
   

• Increase sales conversion rates by up to +33% because video banking conversations are short but still show a human face
  
  

• Speed up the sales cycle. Video banking is clearer than a telephone conversation, because visual aids like screen sharing or co-browsing make it easier to explain complex topics

For example, give fast and personal advice on mortgages and loans. Customers can go through the decision process as quickly as possible, which gives you a competitive advantage

• Boost efficiency & productivity: video meetings with banking clients are up to +30% shorter than physical meetings
   

• If customers have urgent or more complex question, you can give interactive, personal support - which improves first-time fixes & reduces ticket handling time

How can you use video banking?

At MessageBird Video, we use video banking in the more modern, 100% digital sense. This type of completely remote video advice is now being offered by many more banks. Some major European banks use our video call technology, like Rabobank, SNS and Nationwide.